Toilet odor elimination device

ABSTRACT

A toilet odor elimination device that can be retrofitted to existing toilets and adapted for new toilets includes a toilet intake vent located at the rear of the toilet bowl and which is in flow registration with an odor flow tunnel mounted to the inside front wall of the toilet tank for conveying noxious odors to a filter assembly enclosed within the toilet lid, noxious odors also being conveyed through odor intake vents disposed in odor intake channels extending within the lid, for odor purification and filtering by the filter assembly before release back into the room as freshened and scented air with the filter assembly driven by a fan and motor assembly controlled by a cpu unit, and the actuation of the fan and motor assembly from a program setting button on the toilet lid or from a remote control unit with the running time of the fan and motor assembly being set to various time increments from the program setting button or by time setting buttons on the remote control unit.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to devices that lessen noxious bathroom and restroom odors, and more particularly pertains to a device that can replace an existing toilet seat for filtering and eliminating noxious odors emanating from the toilet and releasing freshened scented air back into the room.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Among the most unpleasant odors are the unpleasant and noxious odors produced by the use of bathroom and restroom facilities. Such odors can emanate from the use of one's residential bathroom to the continuous use of public restrooms at sports stadiums, airports, bus terminals, amusement parks, shopping malls, etc. It requires a constant effort to at least lessen and diminish such unpleasant and noxious odors by a diligent and active maintenance staff; and thus scrubbing and cleaning regimens as well as the use of fresh scent releasing bars and pads that have been placed within the toilet or adjacent the toilet are employed in the continual effort to diminish such smells and odors. Nonetheless, and in the case of the constant and large scale use of many public restroom facilities, other means, systems, and devices have been employed to arrest and eliminate such unpleasant odors at their source—that is, at the toilet itself. Thus, such systems and devices usually include structure added to or incorporated with the toilet and/or the toilet seat in an attempt to collect or gather as much of the noxious odor emanating therefrom for directing such odors to some type of filtration device or system.

Thus, the prior art discloses a number of systems and devices that attempt to achieve such a goal in an effort to prevent the noxious odors from wafting throughout the bathroom and restroom and permeating other rooms or areas of the house, dwelling, or facility.

For example, the Klemme patent (U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,167) discloses a ventilated toilet seat that includes conduit in registration with a stack pipe and extending through a hinge to the rear of the toilet seat for venting noxious odors from the toilet. A fan placed within the conduit draws the odors from the toilet for discharge up the stack pipe. Toilet ventilation only occurs when the toilet seat is down which thereby aligns the passageways within the toilet seat and the hinge.

The Hunnicutt, Jr. patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,741) discloses a toilet bowl ventilating and deodorizing apparatus that includes an odor collector mounted to the toilet bowl, an air intake and a sleeve in communication with the toilet bowl and the odor collector, and an impeller assembly and a filter assembly for drawing and filtering air from the toilet bowl.

The Sollami patents (U.S. Pat. No. 6,167,576 B1) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,500 B1) disclose ventilated toilet seats that include a toilet seat member having at least one hinge receptor for attachment to the toilet bowl, an innermost riser and an outermost riser downwardly projecting from the undersurface of the toilet seat member for forming a seal when brought in contact with the top surface of the toilet bowl, and a plurality of openings spaced about the innermost riser for communicating with a channel located between the innermost and outermost riser for allowing the passage of noxious odors from the toilet bowl and through a conduit extending through the hinge post.

Nonetheless, despite the advantages of the above described prior art, there remains a need for a toilet odor elimination device that is easy to set up and maintain and efficiently dissipates noxious toilet odors and supplants such odors with scented and freshened air that is dispersed throughout the bathroom or restroom.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention comprehends a toilet odor elimination device that can be retrofitted to existing toilets or installed in new toilets for eliminating unpleasant and noxious toilet and bathroom odors by filtering such odors and, after appropriate filtering, returning and discharging freshened and scented air back into the room such as a residential bathroom or a public restroom.

The toilet odor elimination device includes a standard toilet having a toilet bowl, a rearwardly extending flange portion and a toilet tank mounted upon the flange portion. The toilet bowl further includes an upper rim, and extending with the flange portion for communication with the upper rim and the toilet bowl is a toilet intake vent. An odor flow tunnel is mounted to the inside front wall of the toilet tank and includes a connector for flow registration with the toilet intake vent so that noxious odors from the toilet bowl are conveyed through the toilet intake vent and up through the odor flow tunnel.

A toilet tank lid is removably mountable to the upper end of the toilet tank for closing off the toilet tank and for registration with the odor flow tunnel so that the noxious odors can be conveyed into and through structural components housed within the tank lid for odor treatment and dissipation and then release back into the room as freshened and scented air. Specifically, the lid includes a lid connector for registration with the odor flow tunnel and a pair odor intake vents with the odor intake vents located on either side of the connector at the front of the toilet tank lid. Centrally located on the upper surface of the toilet tank lid is an openable and closable filter intake and a specially designed filter assembly is removably mountable within an mounting opening on the lid with the closure of the filter intake covering and protecting the filter assembly. Purified, freshened, and scented air is discharged and released back into the room through a fresh air release vent located behind the filter intake. Positioned adjacent the filter assembly is a fan that is driven by a motor with the fan and motor assembly controlled by a cpu unit housed within the toilet tank lid. A manually operable program setting button is mounted on the upper surface of the toilet tank lid and is interconnected to the cpu for allowing the individual to set the run time for the fan and motor assembly, and thus set the odor purification and freshening time. The toilet odor elimination device can also include a remote control unit that provides for additional fan and motor run time options that can range from 10 minutes to one hour.

Thus, upon manually actuating the program setting button on the toilet tank lid, or actuating one of the run time button settings on the remote control unit, the fan and motor assembly are engaged thereby causing noxious odors to be drawn up through the odor flow tunnel and through the odor intake vents for filtering and purification by the filter assembly and freshening by the scented cartridge. The filtered, purified and scented odors are then discharged up through the fresh air release vent for release and dispersal back into the room as freshened and scented air.

It is an objective of the present invention to provide a toilet odor elimination device that eliminates unpleasant and noxious toilet odors at their source thereby preventing the spreading of such odors in the bathroom and throughout other rooms of the dwelling.

It is another objective of the present invention to provide a toilet odor elimination device that is easy to install adjacent the toilet, and is simple to clean and maintain.

It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toilet odor elimination device whose parts are manufactured from strong, durable, long lasting plastics such as polyethylene.

It is still yet another objective of the present invention to provide a toilet odor elimination device that can be used in restroom and toilet facilities in office buildings, hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts, hospitals, restaurants, sports arenas, and shopping malls.

It is still yet a further objective of the present invention to provide a toilet odor elimination device that can be used on airplanes, trains, charter buses, RVs, and mobile homes.

Yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a toilet odor elimination device that eliminates and filters noxious odors from the toilet and releases freshened scented air into the bathroom and restroom.

Still yet another objective of the present invention is to provide a toilet odor elimination device that includes structural elements that accommodate and provide for toilet overflow protection thereby preventing damage to the toilet odor elimination device.

Yet still another objective of the present invention is to provide a toilet odor elimination device that eliminates odor by killing odor causing bacteria simultaneous with releasing clean fresh new scented air into the room.

A further objective of the present invention is to provide a toilet odor elimination device that includes a scented filter for releasing freshened scented air back into the bathroom or restroom.

A still further objective of the present invention is to provide a toilet odor elimination device that can be set to evacuate, filter and freshen ambient air for various pre-determined time periods.

These and other objects, features, and advantages will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon a perusal of the following detailed description read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating various structural components contained within the toilet tank lid;

FIG. 3 is a top elevational view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating several structural components including a filter intake and a fresh air release vent;

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the toilet odor elimination of the present invention illustrating the mounting of the toilet lid to the toilet tank and the disposition of the filter assembly within the toilet tank lid for discharging freshened and scented air into the room;

FIG. 5 is a top plan view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating the bottom of the interior receptacle for the toilet tank and an odor flow tunnel extending upwardly along the inside surface of the front wall of the toilet tank;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectioned view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating the alignment of the specialized filters of the filter assembly and the location of the fan with respect to the filter assembly;

FIG. 7 is an enlarged sectioned view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating one of the two odor intake vents;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating the filter intake being opened for either insertion or removal of the filter assembly;

FIG. 9 is a front elevational view of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating a remote control unit and the remote control settings for regulating and controlling the amount of time that the internal fan runs for air purification;

FIG. 10 is a representative schematic of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating the regulation of the fan and motor unit for 10 and 15 run times for odor elimination and air purification;

FIG. 11 is a representative schematic of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating the various time settings as controlled from the remote control unit for odor elimination and air purification; and

FIG. 12 is a representative schematic of the toilet odor elimination device of the present invention illustrating the monitoring of the filter assembly by the filter status indicator light and the cpu unit.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Illustrated in FIGS. 1-12 is a toilet odor elimination device or apparatus 10 that can be retrofitted to existing toilets or installed with new toilets for filtering and purifying noxious odors emanating from the use of the toilet, and for discharging and releasing the filtered and purified air back into the room, such as a residential bathroom or a public restroom, as freshened and scented air. In addition to eliminating noxious bathroom odors, the device 10 of the present invention kills harmful odor causing bacteria concurrent with releasing clean, fresh, scented air back into the room.

Illustrated in FIGS. 1, 4, 5, and 8, is a representative toilet 12 that includes a toilet bowl 14, a base 16 for securing the toilet 14 to the floor, and an upper annular rim 18 for the bowl 14. The toilet bowl 14 also includes a rearwardly extending flange portion 20 to which a pivotal toilet seat 22 is attached and upon which a toilet tank 24 is placed. The toilet bowl 14 is defined by a front 26 and a rear 28, and located at the rear 28 of the toilet bowl 14, and opening at the annular rim 18 and extending into the flange portion 20, is a toilet intake vent 30. The toilet intake vent 30 rearwardly extends through the flange portion 20 and registers with an intermediate toilet bowl aperture 32 with the intermediate aperture 32 opening on the flat surface 34 of the flange portion 20 of the toiletbowl 14.

As shown in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 8, the toilet tank 24 is mounted and bolted to the flat surface 34 of the flange portion 20 by a pair of screws 36 and washers and includes a pressurized water release opening 38 that registers with the intermediate toilet bowl aperture 32 and through which water flows when the toilet 12 is flushed. The toilet tank 24 includes a front wall 40, an opposite rear wall 42, a pair of opposed sidewalls 44, a bottom or floor 46, and a continuous upper end 48. In addition, vertically extending along the interior front surface of the front wall 40, and centrally positioned thereon, is an odor flow channel, conduit, or tunnel 50. At the lower end of the odor flow tunnel 50 is an odor flow connecter 52 that engages and mates—male to female—with the intermediate aperture 32 of the toilet intake vent 30. Thus, noxious odors are drawn into the toilet intake vent 30, through the odor flow connector 52 and up through the odor flow tunnel 50 as will be hereinafter more fully described. Mounted on one sidewall 44 is a manually operable flush lever 56, and the interior of the toilet tank 24 defines a pressurized water receptacle or inner reservoir 58 that holds the pressurized water used to fill the toilet bowl 14 after each flushing.

Illustrated in FIGS. 1-9 is a removable toilet lid 60 that is placed upon the upper end 48 of the toilet tank 24 and closes off the inner reservoir 58 of the tank 24. The toilet lid 60 includes a circumjacent lip 62 that fits down over the upper end 48 of the toilet tank 24, an upper flat exterior lid surface 64, a lid front 66 and a lid rear 68. Centrally located on the lid 60, as shown in FIGS. 1, 4 and 8, is a generally rectangular-shaped central lid opening 70. Also centrally located within the lid 60 and at the lid front 66 is a passageway or connector 72 that connects to and registers with the upper end of the odor flow tunnel 50 for the conveyance of noxious odors from the odor flow tunnel 50 and through the passageway 72 to structure hereinafter further described.

As shown in FIGS. 2-4 and 6-8, a number of structural elements are enclosed, contained or housed within the lid 60 that effect the filtering, purification, and release of the odors back into the room as freshened and scented air. Thus, a pair of odor intake channels 74 extends into the body or interior of the lid 60 from the lid front 66 with the odor intake channels 74 in communication with the ambient environment. Disposed within each odor intake channel 74 is an odor intake vent 76 with each odor intake vent 76 generally conforming to the configuration of the respective odor intake channel 74, and FIG. 7 illustrates the specific configuration of one odor intake vent 76. A specialized filter assembly 78 is removably mountable within the central lid opening 70 and is maintained in position by any conventional manner such as brackets or hinges. The specialized filter assembly 78 includes an ionic filter 80 and a carbon filter 82 with ionic filter 80 disposed in front of the carbon filter 82 so that the ionic filter 80 can first treat the noxious odors drawn through the odor intake vents 76 before passing the odors to the carbon filter 82 for further filtration and purification.

As shown in FIG. 2, a fan 84 is disposed immediately behind the filter assembly 78 and whose operation mechanically draws the noxious odors—the air—into and through the filter assembly 78. The fan 84 is driven by a motor 86, and the motor 86 is interconnected to a small-scale conventional cpu unit 88. The motor 86 is housed within the toilet lid 60 and is drivingly connected by a conventional drive shaft to the fan 84. Located immediately on one side of the lid opening 70 is a scented plug channel 90 that extends down into the body of the toilet lid 60 and also registers with the central lid opening 70 at a location between the filter assembly 78 and the fan 84. A scented cartridge 92 is removably insertable within scented plug channel 90. Thus, when the fan 84 and motor 86 assembly is actuated noxious odors are drawn through the filter assembly 78, and then after filtration and purification by the filter assembly 78, the noxious odors contact and intermix with the scent continuously be discharged by the scented cartridge 92 for supplanting the noxious odors with an appealing, scented smell.

Illustrated in FIGS. 1, 3, 4, and 8 are various structural features located primarily on the flat upper exterior lid surface 64 and that facilitate the insertion and removal of the filter assembly 78, the manual operation—and running time—of the fan 84 and motor 86 unit, and the release and discharge of the freshened and scented air back into the room. Specifically, a scented cartridge eject button 94 is located on the exterior upper surface 64 and is manually pressed for opening a cartridge door 95 so that the cartridge 92 can be ejected and replaced when necessary. A program settings button 96 (with a representative flowchart shown in FIG. 10) is electrically interconnected with the cpu unit 88 for setting and controlling the amount of run time of the fan 84 and motor 86 assembly and thus the time period for odor filtration and purification—which for the embodiment of FIG. 10 includes a run time of either 10 or 15 minutes. Interconnected with the cpu unit 88 and the filter assembly 78 is a filter status indicator light 98 that is programmed to light up when it is determined that the filter assembly 78 has lost its effectiveness and needs replaced.

As shown in FIGS. 4 and 8, a filter intake 100 is selectively openable and closable to provide access to the filter assembly 78 and to cover and protect the filter assembly 78, and the fan 84, when these components are in use. The filter intake 100 can be pivotally mounted to the interior sides of the central lid opening 70 by any conventional means such as by the slidable or pivotal brackets 102 shown in FIG. 8. Located immediately behind the filter intake 102 is a fresh air release vent 104 through which the filtered, purified, scented and freshened air is discharged back into the room.

In order to provide for more flexibility in use of the device 10, the cpu unit 88 can be programmed to receive run time commands from a remote control unit 106 as shown in FIG. 9. The remote control unit 106 includes a transmitter 108 (preferably infrared) for sending transmission signals to a receiver 110 mounted on the lid 60 and which is electrically interconnected to the cpu unit 88. The remote control unit 106 is waterproof and includes an on/off power button 112 and a reset button 114. The remote control unit 106 contains the same time setting options or selections as the program settings button 96 of FIG. 3, but, in addition, includes additional time setting options; thus, the remote control unit 106 includes a 10 minute run time setting button 116, a 15 minute run time setting button 118, a 30 minute run time setting button 120 and a one hour run time setting button 122. The reset button 114 can be pressed at any time to terminate any of the time settings 116-122 so that a new time setting option can be selected.

With reference to FIGS. 10-12, FIG. 10 illustrates a representative schematic 124 for the operation of the device 10 using the program settings button 96 on the exterior upper surface 64 of the lid 62. Pressing the program settings button 96 will actuate the fan 84 and motor 86 to run for either 10 minute run time 126 or the 15-minute run time 128. Pressing the program settings button 96 immediately engages the cpu unit 88, the motor 86, and the fan 84 for operation for the selected time period and when the time period is reached the motor 86 and fan 84 then shut off.

With reference to FIGS. 9 and 11, a representative schematic 130 is shown that incorporates the additional run time setting options shown on the remote control unit 106. The program time settings for the remote control unit 106 are the 10 minute run time button 116, the 15 minute run time button 118, the 30 minute run time button 120, and the one-hour run time button 122. Pressing the start or power button 112 and then selecting one of the four run time button options 116-122 immediately sends a signal from the transmitter 108 to the receiver 110 on the toilet lid 60 which is then conveyed to the cpu unit 88 thereby actuating the motor 86 and fan 84 to run for the selected time period. When the time period is reached and concluded the reset button 114 can be pressed to reset the remote control unit 106 for the next use.

FIG. 12 is a representative schematic 132 setting forth the interconnection and monitoring of the filter assembly 78. Thus, continuous feedback occurs among the filter assembly 78, the filter status indicator light 98 and the cpu unit 88, with the filter status indicator light 98 staying unlit as long as the filter assembly 78 maintains its effective status. Upon detecting a loss of effectiveness of the filter assembly 78 the cpu unit 88 signals the filter status light 98 to light 99 thereby alerting the user, such as a homeowner or maintenance worker, that the filter assembly 78 should be examined, and if necessary, replaced.

In operation the device 10 would first be programmed by manually selecting either one of the options by the program settings button 96 shown in FIG. 3 or one of the run time options 116-122 on the remote control unit 106 of FIG. 9. Upon selecting an option actuation of the motor 86 and fan 84 commences and noxious odors, with their general direction of flow or movement being indicated by the arrows 134 shown in figure 4, are drawn from the toilet bowl 14 into the toilet intake vent 30 and up through the odor flow tunnel 50 simultaneous with the drawing of noxious odors through the odor intake vents 76 in the toilet lid 70. All the noxious odors are then drawn by the action of the fan 84 through and across the filter assembly 78 for filtration and purification by both specialized filters 80 and 82. After this occurs the scented cartridge 92 freshens the odors with an appealing scent, and then the odors, now scented and freshened are discharged and released back into the room.

While this invention has been shown and described in conjunction with a preferred embodiment thereof, it is obvious that numerous modifications, alterations, and changes may be made by those skilled in the art with departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims. 

1. A toilet odor elimination device for filtration, purification, and elimination of noxious odors from a toilet that includes a toilet bowl, an upper annular rim for the toilet bowl, a flange portion rearward extending from the upper annular rim, a toilet tank mounted upon the flange portion, and a toilet lid for the tank, the toilet odor elimination device, comprising: a toilet intake vent disposed adjacent the upper annular rim and extending into the flange portion; an odor flow tunnel mounted within the toilet tank and in communication with the toilet intake vent; a central lid opening on the toilet lid and in registration with the odor flow tunnel; a pair of odor intake vents extending into the toilet lid and in odor flow communication with the central lid opening; a filter assembly removably mountable within the central lid opening and through which noxious odors are drawn for the purification, filtration, and elimination of noxious odors; a fan disposed within the central lid opening for drawing noxious odors through the filter assembly; a motor housed within the toilet lid for driving the fan; a cartridge plug channel formed in the toilet lid and in registration with the central lid opening; a scented cartridge removably insertable into the plug channel for discharging a pleasant scent into the flow of air after the noxious odors have been conveyed through and eliminated by the filter assembly; a fresh air release vent located adjacent the fan for releasing freshened and scented air back into a room after the noxious odors have been filtered, purified, and eliminated by being drawn through the filter assembly; a cpu unit housed within the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the motor; and a manually operable program settings button mounted upon the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the cpu unit for setting an operational run time for the motor and fan.
 2. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 1 wherein the filter assembly includes an ionic filter and a carbon filter.
 3. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 2 further comprising a scented cartridge eject button for ejecting the scented cartridge from the cartridge plug channel.
 4. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 3 wherein the program settings button can be selectively set for either the operational run time of 10 minutes or the operational run time of 15 minutes.
 5. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 4 further comprising a filter status indicator light mounted to the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the cpu unit and the filter assembly for providing a visual signal that the filter assembly needs replaced.
 6. A toilet odor elimination device for the elimination of noxious odors from a toilet that includes a toilet bowl, an upper annular rim for the toilet bowl, a flange portion rearward extending from the upper annular rim, a toilet tank mounted upon the flange portion, and a toilet lid for the tank, the toilet odor elimination device, comprising: a toilet intake vent disposed adjacent the upper annular rim and extending into the flange portion; an odor flow channel mounted within the toilet tank and in communication with the toilet intake vent; a central lid opening on the toilet lid and in registration with the odor flow tunnel; a pair of odor intake vents extending into the toilet lid and in odor flow communication with the central lid opening; a filter assembly removably mountable within the central lid opening and through which the noxious odors are drawn for their purification, filtration, and elimination; a fan disposed within the central lid opening for drawing the noxious odors through the filter assembly; a motor housed within the toilet lid and drivingly connected to the fan; a fresh air release vent located adjacent the fan for releasing freshened and scented air back into a room after the noxious odors have been filtered, purified, and eliminated by being drawn through the filter assembly; a cpu unit housed within the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the motor; and a manually operable program settings button mounted upon the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the cpu unit for setting an operational run time for the motor and fan.
 7. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 6 further comprising a cartridge plug channel formed in the toilet lid and in registration with the central lid opening.
 8. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 7 further comprising a scented cartridge removably insertable into the cartridge plug channel for discharging a pleasant scent into the flow of air after the noxious odors have been conveyed through and eliminated by the filter assembly.
 9. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 8 further comprising a scented cartridge eject button for ejecting the scented cartridge from the cartridge plug channel.
 10. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 9 wherein the filter assembly includes an ionic filter and a carbon filter.
 11. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 10 wherein the program settings button can be selectively set for either the operational run time of 10 minutes or the operational run time of 15 minutes.
 12. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 11 further comprising a filter status indicator light mounted to the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the filter assembly for providing a visual signal indicating that the filter assembly needs replaced.
 13. A toilet odor elimination device for the elimination of noxious odors from a toilet that includes a toilet bowl, an upper annular rum for the toilet bowl, a flange portion rearward extending from the upper annular rim, a toilet tank mounted upon the flange portion, and a toilet lid for the tank, the toilet odor elimination device, comprising: a toilet intake vent disposed adjacent to the upper annular rim and extending into the flange portion; an odor flow channel mounted within the toilet tank and in communication with the toilet intake vent; a central lid opening on the toilet lid and in odor flow registration with the odor flow channel; a pair of odor intake vents extending into the toilet lid and in odor flow registration with the central lid opening; a filter assembly removably mountable within the central lid opening and through which noxious odors are drawn for their purification, filtration, and elimination; a fan disposed within the central lid opening for drawing the noxious odors through the filter assembly; a motor housed within the toilet lid and drivingly connected to the fan; a fresh air release vent located adjacent the fan for releasing freshened and scented air back into a room after the noxious odors have been filtered, purified, and eliminated by being drawn through the filter assembly; a cup unit housed within the toilet lid and electrically interconnected to the motor; a cartridge plug channel formed in the toilet lid and in air flow communication with the central lid opening; and a scented cartridge removably insertable into the plug channel for discharging a pleasant scent into the air flow after the noxious odors have been conveyed through and eliminated by the filter assembly.
 13. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 12 further comprising a scented cartridge eject button for ejecting the scented cartridge from the cartridge plug channel.
 14. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 13 further comprising a remote control unit for transmitting signals to the cpu unit for setting and controlling the operational run time of the fan and motor and the time period for filtering the noxious odors by the filter assembly.
 15. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 14 wherein the operational run times for the fan and motor set from the remote control unit include run times of 10 minutes, 15 minutes, 30 minutes and one hour.
 16. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 15 wherein the filter assembly includes an ionic filter and a carbon filter.
 17. The toilet odor elimination device of claim 16 further comprising a filter status indicator light mounted to the toilet lid and interconnected to the filter assembly for providing a visual signal when the filter assembly needs replaced. 